Going Green!

Small changes can have a big impact on your environment. Take baby steps to "Go Green" using these tips. Every little bit counts!

Change your light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFLs). CFLs use about 75 per cent less electricity than the regular bulbs and last about 10 times longer.

Use a power bar. Many electronic devices around the home continue to use power even when they're not "on." Plugging them all into one central power bar makes it easy to flick one switch to stop the power drain.

Be a locavore. Before hitting grocery store shelves or your dinner table, a typical food travels over 2,000 kilometres. Reduce harmful carbon emissions caused by this travel by eating food grown and produced locally. Check out one of GTA's great farmer's markets.

Grow your own food. Take the "eat local" movement a step further and eat vegetables, fruits, and herbs grown right on your own balcony.

Fix your leaky faucet. The constant drip of a leaky faucet may not seem like a big water-waster but even the tiniest trickle can amount to 7 or 8 litres of wasted water a day.

Use re-usable bags. If the 5 cent fee for plastic bags hasn't already driven you to make the switch do it for Mother Nature. Do it in style with bags from reuseit.

Say no to bottled water. Save yourself from our enviro-political rant about bottled water and buy a reusable water bottle. Just do it.

Switch to cloth napkins. Every meal will feel like fine dining (even if it's from a take-out container) and you'll save the waste of paper napkins.

Use reusable batteries. Though you may be dishing out more money upfront, reusable batteries can be recharged and last four times longer than their disposable counterparts.